The waste-management firm scrapped its public launch after investors proposed a price of US$18 per share, below its desired price of US$20–$24. The offering, which was expected to raise as much as US$2.1 billion, would have been Canada’s biggest after Manulife Financial’s 1999 listing that raised US$1.7 billion. GFL CEO Patrick Dovigi said his firm will revisit the possibility of a public launch at a later date. (Bloomberg)

Talking point: This is the latest major IPO to fall victim to investor skepticism following WeWork’s high-profile collapse. As with WeWork—another unicorn, though in a different industry—indebtedness and potentially poor market sustainability were likely key factors in investors’ wariness. GFL, which has more than 10,000 employees and operates throughout Canada and in 23 U.S. states, has accumulated as much as US$6.5 billion in debt, largely through a series of costly acquisitions, including a US$2.8-billion buyout of U.S. rival Waste Industries in 2018. Potentially dwindling growth in the waste-management industry is another factor—two of GFL’s large U.S. competitors, Waste Management and Republic Services, posted slowing growth and slipping profits last year.